


YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THE POSSIBILITY OF PAIN AND SEIZURE.

by HalfUnion



Category: Deltarune (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Character Study, Depression, Gen, refers to the very final scene so it's pretty big sad boy hours
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-08
Updated: 2018-11-08
Packaged: 2019-08-20 11:41:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16555103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HalfUnion/pseuds/HalfUnion
Summary: Kris is fed up with pretending.





	YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THE POSSIBILITY OF PAIN AND SEIZURE.

The wagon; the birdcage; the knife. Once a cherished childhood memory, the home of a pet long gone, a mundane kitchen utensil flecked with pie crust. 

Tonight, they are the closest thing to liberation Kris is able to find.

It’s late, and they’re tired, but not for want of sleep. No, Kris is tired in the figurative sense, of their lack of control and sincerity. They are tired of being perceived as someone that they are not, of being forced to ACT as though they are a player in their town’s biggest stage play. They have, for the past 24 hours quite literally, been piloted like a puppet on a string.

So tonight, with a knife in hand, Kris is going to dig and scratch and bite at their puppeteer until they don’t have to pretend anymore.

They tear it out from within them, and despite the pain, summon the strength to lock it away behind the bars at the corner of their bedroom. For now, Kris is back. Their whole body shakes as they take a look at their knife, freshly cleaned and sharpened. Its sheen distracts them for a moment, as they can just barely make out a vague reflection in the metal. What may be to come scares Kris. At the end of the day, they don’t really want to hurt anyone. But lost in their misery and confusion, they’re still not sure they’re entirely in control.

Kris knows that they never were, after all. No one seems to like their original self much. The too-quiet child from the Dreemurr household who stares too long or commits the capital sin of not making eye contact at all. Simultaneously laughed at and ignored, Kris remembers the judgment of their peers as they attempted to show off a personal treasure of theirs (“just a ball of junk,” Catti had said), comforted only by Asriel’s gentle patience later that day. Even then, Asriel is a sore subject, because he’s everything Kris isn’t: exciting, engaging, sociable. People tolerated Kris because Asriel was there for them, but now that he’s gone, there’s nothing hiding Kris from their own inadequacy. They’ve always been three steps behind him, and they know it.

Toriel tries, but she smothers them, as though she believes they can’t look after themself. Asgore always apologizes when his hugs send them into a panic, but he always forgets by their next meeting, and visiting him has become a chore. Susie had proved the day before that there was good in her, but that was during the puppeteer’s reign, and Kris isn’t sure she’s as fond of them as she’s become of the stranger inside their body.

Noelle...well, Noelle is nice. She tries her best, and she’s quiet, too. Staring into the birdcage, Kris remembers her kindness, and their resolve wavers for a moment. But what must be done must be done. 

They tighten their grip on the blade in their hand, feeling comfort and distress in equal measure through the handle. If they were asked what exactly they planned on doing, they would not be able to answer. But tonight, in their room with only that wretched SOUL as a witness, they allow their feelings to overtake them. 

The rage; the sorrow; the fear. Once something to hide from the world in shame, an emotion too loud to express, a sensation not easily communicated to their isolated hometown.

Tonight, Kris is able to claim them as their own.

**Author's Note:**

> This follows the "the player was possessing Kris throughout the whole game, and this is not the first time something like this has happened" theory, because it's my favorite of the ones I've seen and it's the one that resonates with me the most personally. Poor kid. I hope later game chapters don't do them too dirty.
> 
> This is super melodramatic, but it would have been even moreso had I kept my original draft, which had used the line "the pain; the sorrow; the fear". But I'm not sure how much overlap there is between Metal Gear fans and Undertale/Deltarune fans, and rage fit the mood better, anyways. Maybe next time.


End file.
